Adam Parrott-Sheffer went to a community forum earlier this month as a candidate for elected office in hopes of shaking hands and listening to voter concerns. He wound up first having to explain the office he’s competing for.
Parrott-Sheffer, a former Chicago Public Schools principal, is one of five people who have filed campaign disclosure documents intending to run for Chicago’s first-ever school board elections this November.
They’re the first of likely dozens who will submit their names to election authorities over the coming weeks. Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill this month establishing that Chicago voters will elect 10 school board members to represent geographic districts this fall, while Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint another 10 and the school board president. All 21 seats will be up for election in November 2026.
Much of the public still knows little if anything about these elections, as Parrott-Sheffer quickly learned. Delays caused by disagreements in the Illinois General Assembly over the details didn’t help.
But behind the scenes, candidates and special interest groups already are gearing up to take advantage of this new opportunity to shape the city’s education system. Some organizations are conducting candidate training sessions. Others are hosting informational meetings for parents. And at least three political action committees are raising money to support candidates, including a newly formed one led by defeated mayoral candidate Paul Vallas and former charter school executive Juan Rangel.
“I really want to meet the moment,” said Bridget Lee, executive director of a new program that kicked off a fellowship for aspiring candidates. “We’re at this inflection point where our city is transitioning from the mayoral-appointed board to the democratically elected board. It’s going to be 21 folks, which is also a big change for the city.”
Tuesday was the first day candidates could circulate petitions to get on the ballot. They need 1,000 signatures by June 24. Candidates have to file disclosure notices with the Illinois State Board of Elections before then if they raise more than $5,000.
Parrott-Sheffer, whose campaign has reported $22,030 in contributions so far, said he’s worried a lot of good candidates will be dissuaded from running by the high number of signatures required — double that of City Council campaigns — plus scarce information and the fact that the seats are unpaid.
“As I started to think about that venn diagram of people who know our schools deeply, send their own children to our schools and have seen the world of schools and know what good board governance is … I realized that the group of people who fit in that circle are pretty small,” he said.
Parrott-Sheffer is a former CPS principal with two sons in CPS schools. He’s now a consultant to school districts through a Harvard University program and plans to run in District 10, which includes Hyde Park and a strip of the South Side along Lake Michigan and the Indiana border.
Figuring out how to run for CPS’s new school board
Keith Kysel is another CPS dad thinking of running. He’s been working as a substitute teacher, which he said has given him a way to tour the school district. He has a long list of ideas, from ways to get more school bus drivers to how to retain teachers.
But right now he’s trying to figure out how to run. He went to the March Board of Education meeting to ask some questions. He doesn’t know the exact boundaries of the district he would represent or who is eligible to sign the petitions.
“I don’t see enough information on what needs to be done other than we needed 1,000 signatures,” Kysel said.
The Board of Education has created a webpage with the basics, like the election map, timeline, eligibility and board member responsibilities.
Dwayne Truss, who was an appointed board member under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, was gung ho about running but is now questioning the…
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